Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the set of new admin tools at the company’s first Communities Summit in Chicago.

Group Insights

The social networking giant added a feature allows Group admins to see an overview of how fast the group is growing, when its members are most active and how active they are within conversations.

For a long time, Group admins have asked Facebook for a better way to improve engagement by evaluating their strategies.

Group Insights is the company’s response to those requests. Eventually, it will enhance the relevance of Group in businesses, as Facebook has allowed Pages to link to Group directly and post in Group as Pages.

The new tool will help brands better understand focus points and key concerns within their target audience. Key performance indicators and direct reporting now align with Group actions.

Group Insights will stir brands to find partnerships with prominent admins in their industry. They will gain access to the most meaningful topics and influencers in eminent groups for strategic focus.

Although not solely intended for marketing, Insights simplifies several uses for brands.

Membership Request Filtering

The company said it heard from admins that new member applications are “one of the most time-consuming things.” Consequently, it has added filters on common categories, such as location and gender, and has allowed Group admins to accept or decline all requests at once.

Although helpful, the filter may erroneously rule out some applicants, especially when it comes to gender.

One requirement is to pass Answered Questions. Facebook has allowed admins to use questionnaires to reject applicants who have joined for the wrong reasons.

Removed Member Clean-up

Since it has added new tools for membership request filters, Facebook has also made it easier to remove users and their content from a Group.

The Member Clean-up is a welcome addition, especially for Groups flooded with spam. Admins can flush out members who only post self-promotional content without relevant contribution to the topics.

Scheduled posts

To help Groups be at par with Pages, Facebook also rolled out admin tools to schedule posts.

Scheduled posts allow Group admins to tap into Insights and use the data to post content at the ideal times. It’s also easier to schedule updates and announcements.

Group to Group Linking

Facebook has allowed admins to link their Group to another Group and to recommend linked conversations.

First seen last month, the tool has an indicator on some Pages to highlight linked Groups under the main image.

At the event, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the opportunity to share Facebook’s updated mission statement in front of those in attendance.